Transportation of low-grade thermal energy over long distance by ammonia-water absorption

This paper presents the importance and the cycle choice for long-distance transportation of low-grade thermal energy, and the thermodynamic and hydrodynamic feasibility of single-effect ammonia-water absorption system for heat or cold transportation over long distance are also involved. A model of a long-distance thermal energy transportation system is built and analyzed, which shows satisfactory and attractive results. When a steam heat source at 120°C is available, the user site can get hot water output at about 55°C with the thermal COP of about 0.6 and the electric COP of about 100 in winter, and cold water output at about 10°C with the thermal COP of about 0.5 and the electric COP of 50 in summer. A small-size prototype is built to verify the performance analysis. Basically the experimental data show good accordance with the analysis results. The ammonia-water absorption system is a potential prospective solution for the heat or cold transportation over long distance. Supported by Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Committee (Grant No.06SR07106) in China, Shanghai Pujiang Program (Grant No.06PJ14061) in China and Programme Interdisciplinaire Energie du CNRS-“VALOTHERM” in France